Russia will continue with Iranian missile contract

Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Industrial Cooperation informed reporters on Thursday that Russia will continue work on the contract to supply the S300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran.

“As far as the S300 supplies to Iran are concerned, Russia is not bound by the UN Security Council resolution and the work with this contract goes on,” Mikhail Dmitriyev, an official from the Federal Service for Military-Industrial Cooperation, said.

As the head of the parliamentary committee for international affairs Konstantin Kosachev explained the new UN resolution does not touch upon defense weaponry. Thus, the S-300 systems must not be included in it.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Iranian sanctions on June 9. The new document – developed jointly by the United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, France and Germany – imposes a ban on supplying Iran with tanks, military ships, combat aircraft, as well as large caliber artillery, missiles and missile systems. The resolution was passed after Iran harshly refused to stop developing its own nuclear program.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also confirmed Russia will go on with the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, which is expected to be launched in August.

"The resolution doesn't put up any obstacles in this sense and this concerns not only the Bushehr project, but any other number of new light-water nuclear power units," said Lavrov.

Anton Khlopkov, the founding director of the Center for Energy and Security Studies, thinks that in August the first criticality will be reached in the nuclear power plant Bushehr and the first electricity will be produced “later this year and probably next year.”

However, he’s sure “that Russia will not conclude any new agreements which will violate the recent resolution.”